Trick or Treat?
by Bri.Fox
Summary: Shippo is on the prowl this Halloween night. Being a fox demon, it's really not his fault that he cannot resist tricking the locals. However, by the end of the night, he meets someone that changes his childish ways. A oneshot simply in the spirit of Halloween.


******Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha; wish I did but let's face it, that's really never going to happen. I can still hope though, right?

**AN: **Just a small little story I brewed while in a good mood from Halloween's festivities! This is just a humorous oneshot of Shippo being a sneaky little prankster and his attempts at tricking when offered some treats. Please, enjoy!

Shippo scowled as he wondered the deserted streets, the evening's wind howling in his ears and the barren trees reaching out to grab him. But he wasn't scared in the least; rather, he was disappointing that he wasn't even supposed to be out on this momentous holiday.

His caretaker was a mean old hag who didn't even like demons, let alone orphaned ones such as himself. When he and the few other children asked if they could go out like all the other children for Halloween, she had squawked, "Absolutely not! You all would be a menace to society with your demon tricks and prankster ways!"

Shippo had pleaded and promised that he wouldn't do anything bad—well, not _too_ bad—but she was steadfast in her resolve. All he wanted to do was wear the super cool costume he had made all by himself; it was Luke Skywalker's outfit from his favorite movie series, Star Wars. Even after he showed the old woman all the hard work he'd put into it, she refused him and sent him to bed without dinner.

_Pfft, shows her. She won't even know I'm out with that dummy I put in my place. _Shippo continued to wander the streets until he reached a particularly lit-up neighborhood, immediately captivating his attentions with bright orange lights strung from lamp posts and funny-faced jack-o-lanterns staring at him from decorated porches.

_This looks good…no one in that last neighborhood was even awake!_ The fox demon took one more look down at himself, upset at forgetting to grab his costume that he put so much effort into and instead rolled his eyes and created a hay string hat to go with his raggedy clothes for a country kid sort of look.

Puffing up his chest and standing as tall as he could to not appear like a little lost youkai prowling the streets, he went up to the first house and rapped the pumpkin-shaped door knocker. As no one immediately came, he used his superb hearing to listen into the house and heard little kids running and yelling, a woman's voice nagging, and a man's voice calm against the raging chaos as he promised to deal with the crisis after giving out candy.

A tall man with violet eyes that crinkled at the sides and a low, short ponytail came to the door, offering a decent-sized bowl of chocolates.

"Why hello there little one! Your costume is _very_ authentic, truly captures the country-boy stereotype," he said with a sincere smile. In the background, Shippo spotted an attractive woman cradling a toddler and appearing to be chasing after another.

Slightly frowning, Shippo thought, _Ya that's because it is authentic…besides the hat at least. _

Instead, he put on a toothy grin and exclaimed, "Trick-or-treat!"

The man smiled and offered him the bowl to which Shippo delved into and snatched a few pieces of delicious contraband. "Thanks for the treat mister, now here's a trick!"

In a whirl, Shippo had seemingly disappeared and four very busty, very curvaceous women had taken his spot on the porch. The man's eyes went wide as they searched the ample cleavage around him, and as his wife rounded the corner inside, she caught sight of him holding one of their hands while talking smoothly to another.

Enraged, she grabbed the closest object to her, which just so happened to be her toddler's toy boomerang, and stormed up to him, cracking him on the head with the piece of plastic. "Miroku! You never quit, do you?!"

Rubbing his offended head, he tried his best to dig himself out of the impressive hole that his natural personality had gotten him into this time. "My love, I was just letting these nice ladies know where the nearest gas station is."

"Mmmhmm, like you weren't flirting with them. They're not even women, you should know that!" As the woman said this, she bopped each of the voluptuous women with the toy and they turned into crying acorns.

"Yes, dear, I should have known better. Allow me to help you with the children…" Miroku followed his wife back inside, mournful for the loss of the obvious illusions; he had seen their fox tails after all so Miroku was simply playing along.

Up in a tree, Shippo cursed and whispered to himself, "Who'd have known she could sense youki! Ugh, whatever, the next house will be better!"

Targeting one of the nicest houses in the decked out neighborhood, he slowly approached the door, trying to gain back his confidence after his last trick was so easily foiled.

A sweet-eyed woman immediately came at his knock, smiling brightly and dressed as a geisha in a yellow, checkered kimono. "My dear, you're out so late! Where are your parents?"

Shippo knew that he'd just make up a story like always. "Well miss, they decided to drive down the street for some more candy, so they'll be right back!"

"Ok darling, as long as that's the case! So, would you like a trick or a treat, sweetheart?"

Shippo smirked. _Too easy!_ As soon as he was about to conjure up a frightening image, an extremely tall youkai dressed in ancient looking white garbs with red flowers appeared in the doorway, growling and tugging his mate against his chest.

"Sesshoumaru! What in the world has gotten into you?"

He simply rolled his eyes at his human wife's insensitivity to youki. "Leave now, child."

Already scampering off of the porch, Shippo knew better than to mess with a youkai of that caliber and made a hasty retreat to the opposite side of the neighborhood.

_What is this?! Is everyone here a youkai or can at least sense them?_ Shaking his head, Shippo only became more determined to prank one of these formidable opponents. Balling one fist and punching it into the other, he scouted yet another house that was a bit less decorated than the others but still seemed open for business.

Knocking on the wooden door, Shippo heard a distinctly male voice grumbling inside and a few choice curse words when the owner of the voice had apparently bumped into something sharp. Hoping that this was just a clumsy human, Shippo was taken aback when another tall man opened the door. Unlike the other youkai down the street, however, Shippo knew that this man was a hanyou because of his white ears and golden eyes.

"Whatdya want, runt?"

"Can I please have some candy mister?" Shippo used his best puppy-dog eyes and was finally rewarded when the hanyou rolled his own eyes and reached for the bowl of candy.

"Here ya go pipsqueak, only take one piece though. Gotta have enough for all the other runts in this neighborhood."

"Of course, mister!"

Grinning mischievously, as Shippo reached into the candy bowl, he pulled out a small stone from his pocket and placed it in the man's free hand. "Here, a small gift for the candy!"

"Uhh, thanks kid?" The hanyou eyed the pebble then looked back at the small demon, skeptical of the "gift."

Just as the man was about to go back inside, the small pebble transformed into a giant boulder that dragged the hanyou to the ground with a loud thump. The impact had momentarily stunned the hanyou, but as he tried to get up and wring his hand free of the boulder, he realized that he was thoroughly stuck. "What the—Holy shit, kid! What the hell is this thing?!" he yelled, tugging at his trapped hand with no luck of the boulder budging at all.

Shippo was rolling on the floor laughing to himself at his complete success. Finally straightening himself back up, he gave a toothy grin to the hanyou that was now spewing curses at just about everything.

"Don't worry 'bout it too much, it'll wear off in a few hours," Shippo smugly stated as he proceeded to jump of the porch and start to run down the street.

However, he was instantly halted by the splendid aroma of freshly baked goods from the house next to the hanyou's and he had to stop by and investigate. _Maybe I could snatch all those goods while whoever answers the door is busy with my trick!_

He let his nose lead him to the door while he appreciated the stained glass Halloween-themed scenes hanging from the windows. With a devilish smile, the kit tapped on the door, already having his plan ready to go.

His mind stopped churning out mischievous plots as a woman dressed in a witch's outfit came to the door. She smiled so kindly at him with her big brown eyes that he knew he'd have to keep up his resolve to do the prank.

"Hello there, little one. Have you come for some goodies?" the woman asked in a sweet, sing-song voice that reminded Shippo of his own mother.

"Yes mam, I sure have!" He put on his most innocent façade and waited for her to offer the candy.

"Now now, what do we say on Halloween?"

"Oh! Trick-or-treat!"

She smiled as she offered him the bowl of goodies. As he grabbed in to take a few, he was absolutely shocked when a hand reached up and clasped itself over his own, causing his tail to poof up to a ridiculous size.

"Ahh!" he yelped as he jumped back, holding his attacked hand to his chest.

"Haha, you got a trick, little one!" She continued to lightly chuckle, especially when deep frown lines formed on Shippo's face and his little lip pouted out at being tricked before he could trick her.

"I hope I didn't frighten you too badly, sweetheart! It was only a little prank." Worry lines immediately marred her pleasant face and Shippo felt bad for making her worry.

"It's fine Miss, I just wasn't expecting it."

"Well, since I scared you so badly, the least I can do is offer you some hot cocoa. It's getting chilly out, isn't it!"

Shippo shivered slightly as if on cue and decided to accept her offer. _I can still nab those cookies from the inside…_

The woman pulled out a chair for him and started to boil some milk and cocoa powder on the stove. "Has your treat hunting gone well tonight?"

"I guess."

"Well, this neighborhood is known for having the best candy," she stated with a wink. "My name is Kagome, by the way. Where are your parents? I didn't see anyone with you."

"They're gone. And my name's Shippo."

Kagome's heart went out to the poor demon. _Poor thing must be all alone tonight…_

"Well, Shippo, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

For the next hour or so, they chatted over warm drinks until finally Shippo realized that he had to get back before the old hag did her nightly check of the kids.

"Well, I have to go now Miss Kagome," he stated with his eyes downcast, disappointed that he had to leave his new friend.

"Alright Shippo, but you can leave _only_ if you let me give you a few things."

Shippo cocked his brow but allowed the nice lady to rummage through her draws and finally withdraw a large knapsack. "Now, here are some of the cookies I had made earlier today, and," she stated while looking around for something else, "here's an old jacket that belonged to my little brother. I think it should fit you just fine!"

Shippo didn't know what to say. People were never this nice to him and certainly no one had ever given him gifts like this. "A-are you sure, Kagome?"

"Of course! It's just a jacket, Shippo."

He ran to give her a hug before he left, touched by her kindness and upset with himself that he almost played a mean trick on this special woman. "Thank you very much."

"It's my pleasure. Be sure to visit anytime, Shippo!" She waved him goodbye as he scurried off into the breezy night.

Quietly, Shippo lifted the windowsill of his bedroom that he shared with two other boys and snuck under his covers, cuddling his precious gifts next to his heart. As he munched on the delicious cookies, he thought that if such nice people existed in the world, then maybe it wasn't all bad and he could find other nice people like Kagome.

Although he still had a rough time with his caretaker and dealing with being a demon in a world filled with humans, Shippo managed to visit his friend Kagome ever Halloween, and they would talk for hours and hours until he had to sneak back home. These talks eventually gave him the courage as he grew up to leave his foster home and make his own way in life, never forgetting to visit Kagome once a year on his favorite holiday.

**End Note**: Well, hope everyone enjoyed this short story! And Happy Halloween! Please let me know what you thought of it if you have the time!


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